Aurora waited until Rafael's breath evened out beside her, his chest rising and falling steadily against her back. His arm was still wrapped around her waist like a chain made of heat and muscle, possessive even in sleep.
But she wasn't sleeping.
She couldn't.
Not after what she saw.
That envelope.
Her father's name written in Rafael's unmistakable handwriting.
Her pulse thudded in her ears as she slowly slid from beneath his arm, inch by inch, until her feet touched the floor. The air was cooler away from his body, and her skin prickled with the absence of him… or maybe it was the dread.
The letter was still where she'd seen it earlier—half-hidden in the drawer he never let her touch.
She opened it with trembling hands.
Inside was a single sheet of paper. Typed. Clean. With one line that shattered her world.
"Aurora's father is alive. Relocated under Costa protection. Do not reveal."
Her knees buckled.
Alive?
Protected?
By Rafael?
